Parents urged to avoid taking kids to hospital unless symptoms severe

When Ally's 13-month-old son developed a high fever in the early hours of Sunday morning and would not stop crying, her husband took him to the emergency department at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) at around 6am.

He described the place as a "war zone", full of children who had tested positive for Covid-19 or were suspected to have the disease.

Ally, who declined to use her real name, said her son later tested positive through a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

"My husband and son left the hospital at around 11am after the PCR test. The doctor also ordered a urine test... My boy was not well in the hospital and was crying," she said.

The Straits Times understands that the two public hospitals able to provide specialised care for children - KKH and the National University Hospital (NUH) - have seen a spike in visits to their children's emergency department in recent weeks as Covid-19 cases climb.

Although the Omicron variant of Covid-19 causes less severe illness than its predecessor, scientists believe more children are reporting sick because the variant is better at evading their innate defences and causing symptoms.

On Wednesday, Singapore's director of medical services Kenneth Mak reiterated that most children do not require hospitalisation or admission to community treatment facilities, and can safely recover at home.

He urged Singaporeans to stay away from accident and emergency (A&E) departments unless instructed otherwise.

People who have tested positive for Covid-19 should visit a test centre if they need official confirmation of the results, or go to a primary care doctor if they feel unwell.

"Although our hospitals and polyclinics are still coping with the increased number of patients presently, we seek the public's cooperation to ensure that our primary care clinics and A&E departments can focus on and prioritise care for those with more urgent conditions," Associate Professor Mak said.

He also observed that infection numbers among children had increased significantly.

In December last year, there were 1,100 cases of Covid-19 reported in children under 12.

By last month, this had gone up to about 7,200. And in the first two weeks of this month, Singapore reported more than 13,000 cases in this age group.

NUH said it has seen an increase in visits to its children's emergency department over the past two weeks.

Most children had mild symptoms, and fewer than 10 per cent were admitted for further treatment and observation. On average, those admitted were discharged after two to three days.

This rush has caused "unnecessary but significant strain" on the department, said Dr Kao Pao Tang, who heads the children's emergency department at NUH's Khoo Teck Puat-National University Children's Medical Institute.

He urged parents to refrain from taking their children to the emergency department even if they have tested positive for Covid-19.

They should do so only if their children develop serious symptoms, such as excessive drowsiness, difficulty breathing due to airway inflammation, or risk of dehydration due to vomiting or poor dietary intake.

Other patients should see general practitioners so that the emergency department can focus on patients who are more ill, Dr Kao said.

Associate Professor Thoon Koh Cheng, who heads KKH's infectious disease service in the paediatrics department, said fewer than 5 per cent of young Covid-19 patients at the A&E department are eventually admitted, and the spike in visitors has led to longer than usual wait times.

The proportion of children hospitalised with Covid-19 increased threefold between the last week of December and the first week of this month, he added.

A parent of a nine-month-old boy said she visited KKH's emergency department on Sunday night, after her son tested positive for Covid-19 and developed a fever which did not subside after two days.

She did so because the family could not find a clinic that was open and able to do testing for infants, said the 38-year-old sales director, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Chin.

"We were there for 2½ hours. They were very busy but very efficient," she added. "It's honestly not that bad."